Formally, the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.). A religious order formed by the union of several monastic societies following the Rule of Saint Augustine, in imitation of the monastic community established by SaintAugustine of Hippo among his clergy in 391. The original branches were

Several reformed congregations known as “Regular Observants” were instituted about this time. The most important of these were the Hermits Recollects of Saint Augustine, a reform begun in Spain in 1438, established in 1588, and formed into a distinct order in 1912, and the German or Saxon Reformed Congregation, recognized in 1493 and comprising many important convents in Germany afterwards affiliated with the Lombardic Congregation. Augustinians were established in the United States in 1796.